Carney says the U.S. can’t dictate the terms of trade talks ahead of CUSMA review

When asked directly if Canada should make any more concessions to the U.S. to get President Donald Trump’s administration to the table, Carney said, “No.”

Earlier in the scrum, Carney said in French that Canada will seek concessions from the U.S. but will not make any concessions.

The prime minister said there are “multiple levels of contact” between Canadian and American officials and both sides have their own lists of trade irritants.

“We’ll sit down and work through those issues with the broader approach in the negotiation. We’ve made some counter-proposals … and the time will come to really roll up our sleeves,” Carney said.

United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told a Capitol Hill committee Wednesday that Canada and the U.S. have different priorities on trade.

He said while Canada is looking to build more trading relationships with international partners, the U.S. is trying to “correct for the problems of globalization.”

“Those are two models that don’t fit together very well,” Greer said.

Greer cited a report his office released that pointed to provinces’ refusal to stock American alcohol on liquor store shelves and high tariffs on some American dairy products as trade irritants getting in the way of further talks with Canada.

“I have been pretty consistent over the past year that if we can, you know, get some changes in Canadian trade practices, you know, it is going to help me get over the political hump that we face here in the United States,” Greer told the committee.

“I’m going to continue having conversations with these folks behind closed doors, but I hope we can get over the hump on some of these things to have significant talks.”

Greer alluded to potential “enforcement action” if American alcohol — which was withdrawn from sale in many provinces in 2025 in response to Trump’s sectoral tariffs — is not returned to Canadian store shelves.

“There are two countries that have retaliated economically against the United States in the past year, the People’s Republic of China and Canada. So that’s kind of the company that they’re running in,” Greer said.

“So my sense is there may have to be an enforcement action to deal with this issue on wine and spirits in Canada.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford swiftly rejected the idea his province would consider putting U.S. alcohol back on store shelves without the White House first conceding in the ongoing trade war.

“I want to be clear: American alcohol will only go back on shelves when the U.S. removes its tariffs,” Ford said in a social media post.

Ontario imported nearly $1 billion in booze from the United States before blocking further imports in Feb. 2025.

Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, did not take reporters’ questions as he entered the caucus meeting Wednesday.

During question period on Wednesday, Adam Chambers, the Conservative international trade critic, asked LeBlanc when Canada will be formally back at the table with the United States — noting that Mexico is already in talks with the U.S.

LeBlanc said the government has been talking with the Americans on a host of issues, including sectoral tariffs on metals, autos and lumber. The minister said the Liberals are ready to support affected workers through negotiations and will only sign a deal that’s good for Canada.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said being at the table with the U.S. is of “the utmost importance.”

“That, in this moment, is significant and will continue to occur until we reach a place where Canada’s interests are well protected and represented in the formal outcome,” Anand said.

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who was in Washington last week, said Wednesday Canada has made it clear an agreement needs to be reached on U.S. sectoral tariffs on Canada’s steel, aluminum, automobiles and softwood lumber.

Janice Charette, Canada’s chief trade negotiator, said Tuesday during a panel discussion in Ottawa that Canada already has made significant concessions by dropping the digital services tax, issuing millions of dollars in refunds to tech companies and ending retaliatory tariffs.

John Barlow, Conservative agriculture critic, said Carney’s recent description of the current trade relationship with the U.S. as a source of “weakness” sent “shivers” through Canadian food producers who depend on the American market.

“You can’t just find that market somewhere else in the world. You can say, ‘Well, we need to diversify.’ That is not replaceable,” Barlow said.

Carney has promised to protect Canada’s supply management system for dairy, poultry and eggs during trade talks with the U.S.

Barlow said that while Canada “obviously” wants to protect supply management, it’s unwise to take it off the table in trade talks with the U.S.

“To see Mexico now on the eve of perhaps having an agreement with the United States and us on the outside, I think it would be a very bad deal if the United States and Mexico come to an agreement and then come to Canada and say, ‘Here it is, take it or leave it,'” he said.

“The key right now is to get back to the negotiating table and start those discussions as quickly as possible.”

All parties, including the Conservatives, agreed in June 2025 to pass a Bloc Québécois bill to prohibit the inclusion of supply-managed goods in future trade talks.

Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet said it’s encouraging the two sides say they are willing to negotiate, but negotiation requires “serious people” at the table.

“We want this to be done reasonably, so please, tell the president not to sit at this table. We’ll do that between serious people and then it will go up to Mr. Carney and Mr. Trump and a deal will be completed,” he said.

The U.S. is also pushing back against the “Buy Canadian” policy, which gives priority to Canadian products and workers on projects worth more than $25 million.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2026.

— With files from Catherine Morrison and Kyle Duggan in Ottawa and Kelly Malone in Washington.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Carney says the U.S. can’t dictate the terms of trade talks ahead of CUSMA review

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